Big, bright, and caught on a spey rod.. What’s not to like? Photo: Tosh Brown.

Our Alaska season is underway and right now and our rivers are starting to fill up with big, bright chum salmon.

Chums are one of the most underrated game fish out there. We’re not exactly sure why.. Perhaps it’s the name. After all the word ‘chum’ is not overly endearing. Or perhaps it’s because in days past they were fed to dogs, hence why they’re also called ‘dog salmon.’ Or maybe it’s because they’re constantly over shadowed by other awesome species like king salmon, and rainbow trout.

Whatever the reason, we think they’re one bad-ass fish on the fly. So, today we’re coming at you with..

One of our favorite ways to fish for rainbow trout in our neck of the woods is with mouse patterns. What’s our favorite pattern? Basically anything with an up-riding stinger hook. Why? We’ll tell you.

Many commercial mouse patterns available are tied on large, wide-gapped hooks designed for staying put in tough-mouthed critters like bass, pike, and so on. These hooks can do a lot of unnecessary damage to the soft mouth of a trout. Furthermore, most of these patterns are tied so that the hook bend will ride downward as it is fished. Because trout can only strike a surface fly from below, this results in a lot of tongue hooked fish, which can lower the fish’s chance of survival once released.

By tying our mouse flies with an upward riding stinger hook, we’re able to do two things..

We’re able to tie big flies with small hooks. By using a stinger-style hook, we’re no longer dependent on the size of the hook to determine the size of our fly. We can tie our mice as large as we want, and still use a more appropriate ‘trout-sized’ hook (such as a size 4 or 6 Owner SSW).

We Get Safer Hook-Ups. Because the hook point rides in an upward direction, the majority of hook-ups are located in the upper lip, OR in the outside corner of the mouth as pictured in the photo above. Both of these areas are safer for trout than the tongue.

Contrary to popular belief, most mouse patterns can be tied with a stinger hook. However, one of the few commercial mouse patterns available today that feature an upward riding stinger hook is Jeff Hickman’s Mr. Hankey, which was developed around this very premise. If you’re planning on chucking mice for trout this summer, consider picking a few up here, OR tie your own instead!

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Deneki Outdoors operates fishing lodges in Alaska, The Bahamas, British Columbia, and Chile.

Our blog gives anglers a daily dose of life on the water. We combine fishing reports, tips, gear reviews, information about our operations and special guest posts with pictures and stories, all related to our fisheries and beyond.

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